Senior evicted – dies two months later

Maggie Ward, at 67-years-old, might never again be able to read the Bible to her dogs.

Maggie lost her home and her dignity when she was evicted on Friday last week, but what concerned her most when TygerBurger spoke to her a few days later, was the loss of her “children”.

She was inconsolable when the newspaper phoned her this week Monday.

“The Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL) in Epping came to take my animals away yesterday,” she sobs.

“I’m not in a good place at the moment… They took my children because I lost my ­home… They are all rescues. They sent them away…”

Maggie has had to endure one of the most difficult weekends one can imagine.

Ever since she was evicted from the ­auctioned house in Parklands, she has had to sit on the sidewalk with all her belongings and find a place where she could live temporarily, while leaving her traumatised dogs in a garage.

While the new house owners unpacked their belongings, the pensioner has had to sleep in her car.

“It is very dangerous and very scary. I got a room in Flamingo Vlei, but I won’t be able to afford it. It costs R750 a week! At this moment I am just too shattered and emotional.”

On the day she was evicted a few heroes and heroines showed their support, which meant the world to Maggie.

A member of the police and a law enforcement officer helped her pack up her belongings in boxes and could even be counted on to give her emotional support.

Maggie also used the shoulder of ­Parklands Neighbourhood Watch’s Jenny White to cry on for much of the day.

“They all helped me, but I was too far ­gone. I was in a daze,” she says.

“I lived in that house for eight years and made my peace with God that this would be my last move ever. This was supposed to be the place where I spent the rest of my life. I sat out there and just thought: ‘What now God? What? Where now God?’”

After such a tumultuous and anxious ­time, the final straw seemed to be when her dogs were taken from her.

“The people at Epping told me they will find a good home for my dogs, or even give them back to me if I can find adequate accommodation.

“I asked so many people to foster my dogs for a while, but no one could help. Someone was very nasty and informed the AACL. “My dogs are my family. They’ve been with me for 10 or 12 years. In my sadness and in my loneliness, they have been there for me. I would never harm them. I would die for them.”

While the dogs were kept in the garage, Maggie sat with them till late at night and read the Bible to them as she did so often before.

She has a list of people that she prays for on a daily basis.

Maggie now hopes many people out there also pray for her in her hour of desperate need.

***DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN TYGERBURGER, A CAPE TOWN BASED MEDIA24 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. IT MAY NOT BE DUPLICATED WITHOUT ACCREDITING THE SOURCE – TYGERBURGER, MEDIA24.***

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From now on Maggie Ward (67) will be keeping an eye on her beloved dogs from heaven.

In a tragic conclusion to a remarkable life, Maggie passed away last week Thursday on the couch of a friend.

She was evicted from her Parklands home at the beginning of October this year and has, since then, mostly lived in her car.

Her heartfelt story was published in TygerBurger and it was clear her dogs meant the world to her.

Maggie’s “friends” were taken away from her when it was discovered that she no longer had a place to stay.

Maggie crept into readers’ hearts when it was revealed that she was dismayed about the possibility of never again reading the Bible to her dogs.

After her eviction, her favourite dog Cheeky was a constant companion.

He protected her while she looked after him, but could not protect her from death.

Table View police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Daphne O’Reilly, said they have opened an inquest docket, and at the time of going to print they’re still waiting on the results of the autopsy.

No foul-play is suspected by the police.

Maggie’s death has left her friends and family distraught.

One of Maggie’s friends, and fellow dog-lover Cheryl-lyn Potgieter, remembers how Maggie once came to her house and burst into tears when she saw the dogs Cheryl-lyn was looking after at that stage.

One was blind and another only had three legs. “It was apparently too traumatic for her to see all these happy dogs,” says Cheryl-lyn.

“Her financial situation was dire, but a lot of us helped where we could. She slept in her car at Merlot Centre.”
According to her, Maggie always knew she would “take care of her dogs” if something had to happen.
Cheryl-lyn did just this, and she reports that besides a new home for Cheeky, the other dogs are doing well thanks to Fallen Angels.
They are now happily running around on a vast piece of land.
Her son and radio personality, Ian Ward, could not be reached for comment.
News of Maggie’s passing received touching responses on the Table View Neighbours Facebook page.
She was known for her beautiful voice, so none of the dedications were so apt as the one in which a resident of Table View wrote: “You can sing with the angels now.”
Maggie’s funeral will be held on Friday 19 December at the Church on the Rise Blouberg.
The church is in Porterfield Road.

***DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN TYGERBURGER, A CAPE TOWN BASED MEDIA24 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. IT MAY NOT BE DUPLICATED WITHOUT ACCREDITING THE SOURCE – TYGERBURGER, MEDIA24.***